Skin Care For the Winter – Tips

It’s that time of the year, where it’s cold and it makes your skin dry due to the weather. Each day, we get through the day with heater systems in the house, office, store, car, etc. Everywhere we go we encounter cold winds and then we go into our house, a building, or our car and it’s warm. However, no matter how much you bundle up your face will still be exposed to some degree.

Furthermore, due to the change in weather, cold weather is harsh on your skin. During the winter months you experience cold air, wind, and low humidity. Taking care of your skin in the winter months can prevent your skin from chapping, cracking, and drying.

Moisturize

It’s cold outside and sometimes even indoors, therefore, we tend to forget the need to moisturize our skin throughout the day during the cold months. Winter air is drier and humidity is lower so we may forget our skin care routine because we’re cold and tired! Usually, when it’s cold it gets dark outside early and that makes us tired because we think it’s late. However, the change in the weather coupled with dry indoor temperatures from heaters steal our skin’s moisture. There are many products available to keep your skin moisturized. Additionally, I like to use a rich, oil-based moisturizer during the winter months.

During the winter months I use a different moisturizer compared to summer months. Even though I have oily skin, it gets a little crazy during the summer, because of where I live. I have learned by trial and error (ha) what products work best for my skin during the summer and winter months.

Having oily/combination skin can be a challenge if you do not properly care for it. During the winter months you may experience dry patches on your face and you may wonder what is going on! Additionally, you still need to take care of your skin and use a moisturizer that will keep your skin looking good!

Hydration

I don’t think I have said this enough, haha, I feel as if in every post I speak about drinking water. During the winter months I drink more water than I usually would during the summer months. I drink a lot of water in the summer, however, I actually have a taste for it because it’s so hot but it’s not the same during the winter. It’s cold and sometimes I don’t even think about drinking water because I want warm drinks such as tea and hot chocolate.

Additionally, I drink a bottle of water every morning, for lunch I pack two water bottles and for dinner I have another water bottle. I usually wake up thirsty and then when I eat my lunch and dinner I include water and if I want some orange juice or anything else I have to drink water first. This pretty much reminds me that I need to keep my body hydrated rather than avoiding water altogether because I want something else.

Sunscreen

Even though it is the winter you may say to yourself that you do not need sunscreen. However, that is not true and you should apply sunscreen year-round. Some people live in states that experience a lot of snow, however, just because the sun isn’t out doesn’t mean that your skin is not exposed to sun damage.

What many people fail to realize is that during the winter months, ultraviolet rays are still present and you need to protect your skin while being outdoors.

Do not forget to use sunscreen during the cold months just because you do not see the sun out.

Exfoliate

During the winter months, your skin takes a beating with the change in weather and the hot, dry air indoors. This can cause a pileup of dead skin cells which may make your skin look flaky and patchy. Exfoliate is very important, however, make sure you do not overdo it.

In the winter, it is best to exfoliate once a week rather than multiple times. The reason is that skin cells dehydrate and dry faster in the cold rather than in the warm months.

According to Joshua Zeichner, M.D., “exfoliating helps enhance radiance. As cells accumulate, they interfere with light reflection off the skin, making it look dull.” Therefore, exfoliating can bring that glow back to your skin and it should be part of your skin care routine year-round. Make sure you pay attention to your skin because only you know what works for you and what doesn’t.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day it boils down to what you do to take care of your skin. There are many factors that may contribute to why your skin is looking the way it is, besides internal factors there are external factors to consider. However, pay attention to your skin and learn what products work best for you. If for whatever reason you’re experiencing redness, itchiness, and any other type of discomfort switch from using that product.

It is important that we get in the habit of changing our skin care routine according to the season.

If you have any questions or would like to offer any insight you have gotten over the years (from your personal experiences), please leave a comment below. I would love to hear all about it.

14 thoughts on “Skin Care For the Winter – Tips”

The drying effect heaters have is only worse if you have hard water! Showering becomes a nightmare, and suddenly you need four times more lotion than you did before.

A few things that help me are taking fish oil supplements – the extra omega-3 fatty acids help rebuild skin – and using an oil cleanse routine for my face. The oil cleansing method works better to keep my face feeling smooth than any moisturizers.

So true, one should also reduce the time they spend taking hot showers in the winter. Water drys our skin. Thank you. I also take fish oil supplements. Growing up my mother used to make my brothers and I take the liquid fish oil supplements. I hated it back then haha but now I still take the supplements, just not the liquid form. Thank you so much for your comment. I also do the oil cleansing method for my skin.

Winter’s cold definitely brings some cracked, chapped, and crinkled skin! Ever try water with a squeeze of fresh lemon? It’s amazing as it keeps the skin well hydrated due to its electrolytes. Thanks for the article!

What a nice post you wrote! I really enjoyed reading it and I could not be silent about your post so I decided to leave my comment here and say Thank You! For sharing this quality post with others.
Actually this is exactly the information that I was looking for about skin care in winter and when I landed to your website and read this post, it answered all my questions in details.
So I’m happy that you decided to write about this topic and share it with people. It’s very useful and can definitely be used as a great source for skin care in winter.

I will come back to your website again for sure and I’m looking forward to read your new posts.)

Hmm, moisturizing and hydration I knew about but I never thought of exfoliating. It’s been years since I exfoliated but I’ll be sure to give it a try now that you mention it. With the dry skin that comes during the winter months, I’ve always been one to moisturize and hydrate. Thanks for giving me another tip to add to my repertoire.

I totally agree with you, having combination skin is so challenging. My T-zone is oily and my cheeks are dry. I should follow more your recommendation of applying sunscreen even during winter time when is more cloudy, but sometimes I don’t want to apply more products to my face. I found a sunscreen that is for allergic and delicate skin, with zinc as the main component. I really like it but it builds a white coat on my face that is so funny. I’m really in the lookout for a sunscreen with some color in it that serve as foundation as well for oily skin.
I have found some but the protection factor is only 15, I need something stronger for Australia 🙂 do you have one recommendation on this? Thanks for your tips.

I completely understand, the less the better. ha. A moisturizer that I use with high spf is Olay. Olay Sensitive Skin mMisturizer SPF 30. I’ve also used Urban Decay Tinted mMisturizer SPF 20. Let me know if this helps.

Thanks for sharing, I need to focus more on moisturising my skin. I do drink a lot of liquid but not necessarily water so maybe I should do more of that. What kind of moisturiser is best for someone with extremely dry skin? I prefer to use natural based products but haven’t found many that have helped my really dry skin. We are in the height of summer here in Australia but I find all year round my skin is the same, just dry!